superpila
Newly Enlightened
Hello,
I had a Loongsun LX-9012 sitting unused in my drawer and decided to mod it with an XM-L T6.
This flashlight is VERY well made. Sturdy, with very good heatsinking, a forward switch, excellent threading and many other features that make it on par with more expensive flashlights.
The LX-9012 was clearly designed for throw because of its very deep SMO reflector, but the SST-50 was somehow disappointing on the matter. First of all, although being driven at 5a, it was not as bright as I expected. Furthermore, although being indeed a good thrower, it was not much better than much smaller flashlights, such as a friend's Maelstrom, which is also much lighter and runs for longer. In few words, this flashlight was cool but definitely not very useful.
Well, swapping the emitter with an XM-L definitely changes the cards on the table. I don't have the Maelstrom for the comparison, but I'm sure that it's no longer a match. In fact I can now easily light buildings at 300 meters from my home, whereas neither the SST-50 version nor the maelstrom were up to the task before. Also the lx-9012 is now my brightest flashlight, whereas with the SST-50 it was easily beaten by my 5xR2 drop-in (each emitter driven at 0.65A).
The mod is very easy as the SST-50 is on a 2mm star and the flashlight has a very simple centering mechanism, so it's really just an easy replacement. You don't even need to glue the star, because the reflector/insulator disc/pill module is designed in a way that screwing the reflector firmly presses the star on the pill. You just need to add artic silver and you're done. Definitely a host designed for modders!
Here is the flashlight after the mod:
Amp reading at the tailcap with 2 freshly charged 18650 for the 5 non-strobe modes are:
2.75a
2.25a
1.55a
0.95a
0.35a
The first mode sends approx. 5A at the led, while the second mode delivers approx 4A. There's absolutely no visible difference between the first 2 modes, but the difference is quite consistent between the second and the third mode, the latter driving the led at something less than 3A.
The only light I have for beamshots comparison right now is a P60 drop in with a Q5, driven at 0.7a. I understand that this is like comparing the sun with a matchstick but I wanted to post some beamshots. I'll update the post with some more fair comparisons as soon as I'm back home and can access my "weaponry".
Loongsun vs P60:
2 stops underexposed:
I had a Loongsun LX-9012 sitting unused in my drawer and decided to mod it with an XM-L T6.
This flashlight is VERY well made. Sturdy, with very good heatsinking, a forward switch, excellent threading and many other features that make it on par with more expensive flashlights.
The LX-9012 was clearly designed for throw because of its very deep SMO reflector, but the SST-50 was somehow disappointing on the matter. First of all, although being driven at 5a, it was not as bright as I expected. Furthermore, although being indeed a good thrower, it was not much better than much smaller flashlights, such as a friend's Maelstrom, which is also much lighter and runs for longer. In few words, this flashlight was cool but definitely not very useful.
Well, swapping the emitter with an XM-L definitely changes the cards on the table. I don't have the Maelstrom for the comparison, but I'm sure that it's no longer a match. In fact I can now easily light buildings at 300 meters from my home, whereas neither the SST-50 version nor the maelstrom were up to the task before. Also the lx-9012 is now my brightest flashlight, whereas with the SST-50 it was easily beaten by my 5xR2 drop-in (each emitter driven at 0.65A).
The mod is very easy as the SST-50 is on a 2mm star and the flashlight has a very simple centering mechanism, so it's really just an easy replacement. You don't even need to glue the star, because the reflector/insulator disc/pill module is designed in a way that screwing the reflector firmly presses the star on the pill. You just need to add artic silver and you're done. Definitely a host designed for modders!
Here is the flashlight after the mod:
Amp reading at the tailcap with 2 freshly charged 18650 for the 5 non-strobe modes are:
2.75a
2.25a
1.55a
0.95a
0.35a
The first mode sends approx. 5A at the led, while the second mode delivers approx 4A. There's absolutely no visible difference between the first 2 modes, but the difference is quite consistent between the second and the third mode, the latter driving the led at something less than 3A.
The only light I have for beamshots comparison right now is a P60 drop in with a Q5, driven at 0.7a. I understand that this is like comparing the sun with a matchstick but I wanted to post some beamshots. I'll update the post with some more fair comparisons as soon as I'm back home and can access my "weaponry".
Loongsun vs P60:
2 stops underexposed:
